Minnesota football unveils all-gold uniforms with Goldy the Gopher helmets for game vs. Middle Tennessee

Goldy the Gopher, Minnesota’s inimitable mascot, dates all the way back to the early 1950s. According to the school, Goldy began in 1952 with a paper mache head that couldn’t be removed during games, and only had one eye hole for junior Jim Anderson, the very first Goldy, to peep through as he riled the crowd up during football games.

Roughly 65 years later, Minnesota’s mascot is as iconic a figure on the school’s campus as ever before, so the football team decided to surprise Goldy with a pretty big-time birthday present this weekend.

(His birthday is Sept. 23, but the Gophers have a bye week that weekend.)

First-year head coach P.J. Fleck called a meeting to unveil the whole thing:

If you couldn’t make it out in the video, Minnesota, in addition to going with all-gold jerseys when the team faces Middle Tennessee at home, will wear a Goldy-themed helmet featuring the gopher’s face on one side, with the traditional Minnesota block M on the flip side. Check it out: